Edward Robinson identified the PalestinianArab
village of Beitin in the
West
Bank with ancient Bethel in Biblical Researches in
Palestine, 1838-52. He based this assessment on its
fitting the location described in earlier texts, and on the
philological similarities between the modern and ancient name,
arguing that the replacement of the Hebrew el with the
Arabic in was not unusual.

After the establishment of Israel in Palestine in 1948, the
biblical name was applied to an Israeli settlement constructed adjacent
to Beitin.

A second biblical Bethel, in the southern Judah, is mentioned in Joshua (8:17 and 12:16), and seems to be the same as
Bethul or Bethuel, a city of the tribe of Simeon.

History

Bethel is mentioned several times in Genesis. It is first mentioned in Genesis
12, but the best-known instance is probably Genesis 28, when
Jacob, fleeing from the wrath of his brother
Esau, falls asleep on a stone and dreams of a ladder stretching between
Heaven and Earth and thronged with angels;
Yahweh stands at the top of the ladder, and promises Jacob the land
of Canaan; when Jacob awakes he anoints the
stone (baetylus) with oil and names the
place Bethel. Another account, from Genesis 35 repeats the covenant
with God and the naming of the place (as El-Bethel), and makes this
the site of Jacob's own change of name to Israel. Both versions
state that the original name of the place was Luz, a Canaanite name.

Bethel was an important cult-centre for the northern Kingdom of Israel following the break-up
of the united kingdom of David and Solomon. The Second
Book of Kings describes how Jeroboam,
first king of Israel, set up centres for his Golden Calf cult at Bethel on the southern
boundary of his kingdom and Dan on the northern boundary, and
appointed non-Levites as his priests ( ). Jeroboam's decision to
pass over the Mushite priests of Shiloh, the
original cult-centre for Israel, deeply offended the Shiloh
priesthood and seems to lie behind much of the animosity directed
at Jeroboam and the golden calf, which probably emanated from the
Mushite priestly clan.

Bethel escaped destruction during the Assyrian conquest of Israel
(721 BC), but was occupied by king Josiah of
Judah (c.640-609 BC), who,
according to the book of Kings,
destroyed the ancient Israelite cult centre.

Bethel was again inhabitated and "fortifed by Bacchides the Syrian in the time of the
Maccabees." Josephus tells us that Bethel was captured by
Vespasian. Robinson notes that after the
writings of Eusebius and Jerome, he found no further references to
Bethel in the written historical record. However, he notes that the
ruins at Beitin are greater than those of a village and seem to
have undergone expansion after the time of Jerome, noting also the
presence of what appear to be ruins of churches from the Middle Ages.

Bethel is also mentioned in the book of Amos. Amos 5:5 - But do not
seek Bethel, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheba; For
Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to
nothing. Also, Amos 7:13 - Don't prophesy anymore at Bethel,
because this is the king's sanctuary and the temple of the
kingdom.